Creative urges hit me at various times. Sometimes when I'm watching something, other times when I am listening to various music, sometimes from reading a good post or thread or having a good discussion in RL.
For example: I had Photoshop 2 last term, and the last day of class, my instructor sat down and gave me some other neat tips and tricks I had to try out at home. In another class, I had a discussion on music and software with a friend, and introduced him to ReBirth for some old sounds he was looking for...which reminded me of modding, which got me thinking about putting my new Photoshop skills, so to speak, to use! Yet another class discussion gave me some ideas on how to improve some of my daughter's photos and create some unique designs with them.
This term, I am starting to get other Photoshop ideas, because I'm in a Sales and Marketing class. Sometimes I like to take ideas to the extreme, or make jokes or bizzare images for ads and such, not only to inject some humor, but to keep my creative juices flowing, as well as to keep my skills from rusting out.
If you are truly creative, you don't really need hallucinogenic influences, although you may get some interesting ideas. Dreams and nightmares work well for that too. Personally, I find that I might get what seems like a good idea, but if I don't write it down, it's gone when I am "straight" or "sober"....or that the idea really wasn't as good as I thought when I was under influence.... or that the idea is there, but the ability to think clearly enough to actually CREATE it is gone and using Photoshop or Gimp at that time just gives me a headache.
Nowadays, I stay away from smokeables anyways. I even quit plain old cig's a year ago, and the urge just doesn't hit me. I drink, but.... usually only when watching tv or listening to music, not when doing anything serious or creative. It's a relaxant to slow the mind down, not to stimulate it! :D
